Chapter Eleven
The Calm Before the Storm
The last kilometer was the hardest. Impossibly, the key appeared to be growing heavier and heavier as time dragged on. Granted, this was most likely a side effect of the exhaustion, but at one point I stopped and picked a good three kilos worth of dirt out of the end of the key. See? It wasn't all in my head. I had no solid idea of how long I'd been dragging this flipping key, but I was only about twenty meters from the house when Joy emerged from within, straining to hide a chuckle as she took in my state. Oh, and what a state I was in. I was sweating profusely, causing the dust kicked up by my hooves to cake onto me in a layer of mud, one that was thickest near my hooves.
My wings were rather disheveled from where I had used them to get a bit of extra power when going uphill, and a few feathers stuck out at odd angles. This was a very strange feeling, and it kinda itched. It's a bit difficult to describe really, but just imagine that you had ants crawling on you. At first it was annoying to the point that I would occasionally stop and straighten them out, but after a while I was simply too tired to care. It was in just this state that Joy happened upon me, trying valiantly to disguise her amusement. In another circumstance, I might have been upset that she had abandoned me in my time of need. Instead, I was simply too exhausted to care. It was all I could do to stay on my hooves, keep moving towards the house. I had no energy to spare on things like emotions. So dead was I that I almost didn't notice that the key in front of me started to float, that is, until it started to pick me up off of my hooves.
I stood in shock for a moment as I contemplated how exactly it was that this massive key was floating away of its own accord. A musical sound pierced the fog, calling me home. I turned towards the sound and saw Joy looking at me in concern for a long moment as the key floated away and into the house. As soon as the key vanished, so did my drive, and my ability to stand as well. Joy must have seen it coming though, for I never hit the ground as a cushion of magic bloomed under my chest and steadied me. Joy began to apologize as soon as I was steadied.
"I'm so sorry, Dave. I forgot that the spell would wear off, and by the time I remembered and went to go get you, you were already here. But on the other hoof, you are really smelly and dirty… I'm going to hose you off before I allow you into the house I just cleaned."
"Alright… I can't argue with that. But here's the catch… you are going to help me clean up. It's all I can do to stand after all that work. And once I'm clean, you are going to help me un-ruffle my feathers. I think it's fair after all the trouble I went through after you abandoned me like that."
Okay, maybe I was a bit over dramatic with that last part… but I really was incredibly tired and sore. I wasn't going to be able to clean myself like I should, so it was only fair that Joy should help. That, and I couldn't help but grin at the concept of being pampered by an attractive mare. Yeah, this was going to be fun.
True to her word, Joy propped me up in front of the house and doused me with the hose before I was allowed within three meters of the door. The water was refreshingly cool in the wake of such strenuous exercise, and I couldn't be even a little upset at the fact that I was being hosed down in the street. Once I was satisfactorily cleansed, I was led into the house where I was met by a towel. In short order I was dried off and deposited on the couch as Joy took off to run me a bath. Instead of going directly to the bathroom to start the shower, she disappeared up the stairs. I figured that she was off to get some of her cleaning products from the bathroom upstairs, but then the water came on up stairs.
Strange… why was she running the water upstairs when the shower was down here? Maybe she was rinsing something off? But that didn't make any sense… unless… why would I be showering upstairs? The answer to my question came sooner than I expected, in the form of Joy coming around the corner and persuading me to get up off the couch.
"Joy? Why are we going upstairs?"
"Well, if I have to clean you up, then we're going to need a bigger tub. I have one upstairs that fits the bill, so that's the one we're using… unless you want to head back out to the yard and the hose?"
"Well… no, not really. Upstairs it is, then."
I may have sounded calm and collected, but internally I was freaking the hell out. I was going upstairs. With Joy. Where the bedrooms are. With Joy. To get in the bath. With Joy. Joy, who was going to be playing with my wings. Oh, this was going to be bad. In the back of my head, there was a little pony rubbing his hooves together with a maniacal grin. Another pony was sitting in the corner in the fetal position and rocking slowly back and forth. Yeah, that sounds about right. This was going to go one of two ways, and I could only hope that it didn't go south. I wanted to be skeptical, wanted to be concerned… but then it dawned on me, and I knew what this was. This was a test, a trial of trust. Of course I would want to freak out, want to monitor and control the situation… but I couldn't. No, I had to trust Joy. I had to trust her, and not interfere or take matters into my own hooves. This was terrifying to me, in a way that was hard to describe. It's a good thing that I was so tired by this point, because it was easy to mask my features under a blank slate of exhaustion.
Joy led the way down the hallway, and in spite of myself I was excited. I was like a kid who just found a tree house in the woods… the thrill of discovery was intoxicating. As we walked down the hall, it was as if we traveled back in time as the pictures of Joy that adorned the wall depicted her progressively younger and younger and for some strange reason… sadder and sadder. Once I hit the toddler stage in this backwards progression though, all traces of sadness vanished and she was the happiest filly you'd ever seen.
The last picture was different from the rest, and I think it was the first photo of Joy ever taken. Nurse Redheart was lying on her back in a hospital bed, quite disheveled and shaken, yet beaming with a familiar smile as she held a tightly wrapped bundle of blue. From this bundle there poked a single tuft of azure mane and a miniature horn and naught else. The single most shocking thing about the photo though was the stallion at Nurse Redheart's hoof… A haggard looking guy, black mane swept back behind his ears, his light blue coat doing little to hide the dark circles under his eyes. This one photograph seemed to insist upon a life brimming with the promise of family, of laughter… laughter that seemed to be missing from the early photos of Joy.
This one photograph, in light of the ones I had seen before, spoke the story of a terrible loss, a great tragedy. The sense of loss that I got from these pictures resonated with me in a fundamental way, striking a chord deep within me. I must have stopped to stare, because the next thing I felt was Joy gently nuzzling me to get me moving, nudging me towards the stairs. My hooves carried me numbly up the stairs, my core still strumming with the resonance of the photo as things I'd long since overcome threatened to break free again. I could feel it rising within me, threatening to overturn the years of struggle it took to push it down in the first place, threatening to consume me once more.
A gentle caress along my side shone into my heart like a beacon, chasing away the slithering darkness that clambered from the depths, beating it back ever so slightly. The darkness within refused to abate so easily though, and as the touch faded away, so too did the light it had brought. In the renewed blackness there was a resurgence within me, as the inky tendrils snaked farther out from the chasm to which they had been banished. I felt a familiar stinging in my eyes and I knew that I wept, but I cared not.
And then Joy kissed me. Not a passionate kiss, driven by urgency and a desperate need, speaking to primal urges. No, this kiss was one of compassion, one that spoke of a shared sorrow, an understanding.
The kiss flared within my heart, brighter than the sun, burning with a radiance that seared the black tendrils within me. The kiss lingered for an eternity, beating back the darkness that had threatened to overcome my defenses. The kiss broke, but this time the light within did not fade in its absence. It was as if I had a fire within my very being that was keeping me warm. Once more, Joy had saved me from myself. She saved me from my past, which threatened to consume me. Taking a shaky breath, I spoke up.
"Thank you, Joy. I…that’s just what I needed."
"Me too. Want to talk about it?"
"I… I can't. I just… I can't."
"Shhh, shhh… it’s okay. You don’t have to, dear. C'mon, let's get you cleaned up, okay?"
I simply nodded and clambered up the stairs, being led blindly into the bathroom. Joy reached out a blue tendril to staunch the water sluicing from the faucet, simultaneously pulling back the curtain to reveal a basin the size of a hot tub, gently steaming and slightly frothy. No wonder she prefers to shower up here. I stood in place for a moment, just a tad hesitant to defile the pristine basin with my filth. A gentle nudge to my flank urged me onwards, and I reluctantly accepted the invitation and dipped a hoof into the liquid, shivering in delight as the touch. The water was as near to the perfect temperature as any I had ever encountered, and I gingerly stepped the rest of the way in and sat down immediately adjacent to the edge of the tub, waiting for Joy to begin. Instead of feeling a sponge or other cleaning implement being dragged across by form, I heard Joy clearing her throat expectantly. Turning, I saw her standing over me, perched on the edge of the basin.
"Dave, I can't climb in with you sitting right there."
Climb… in? But… I'm in here… does she mean to tell me… oh, well it seems she does intend to… she cleared her throat again, indicating that I should likely get moving. Slightly bewildered, somewhat confused, and embarrassingly excited, I floated away from the ledge to permit her access to the bath. Daintily, she climbed in and floated over to where I was performing an admirable imitation of a buoy. From some incomprehensible crevice (the niche behind the towel rack) Joy procured a sponge and gently began to scrub the day from my coat. With each caress of the cleaning instrument, I felt the dirt, sweat, and grime of the day melt away, and the residual darkness that lingered in my chest was likewise washed away under the ministrations of this loving mare.
I was relaxed, completely and totally. The temperature of the water, the delightfully delicious smelling soap, and the gently strokes of Joy's sponge wiped every trace of worry or anxiety from my being. Even when the sponge dipped into a "questionable area", I fretted not. It would seem that in my bliss, I had found complete trust. My trust was well placed though, for despite the fact that the sponge was a bit closer than I was necessarily comfortable with, it never ventured into objectionable areas. The sponge was discarded eventually, and Joy simply embraced me from behind, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and nuzzling my neck. I turned and nuzzled the top of her head, planting a kiss on the tip of her horn. At this she scrunched up her face with a cute little grimace before she turned her head towards mine and favored me with a passionate, gentle kiss.
I turned my torso to better hold her, and with the aid of buoyancy and a bit of muscle, I had floated her around in front of me and held her in my arms, much the same way that a groom would carry a bride across the threshold. Supporting her in my arms and with her arms around my neck, we floated in the languid pool for an eternity, lost in the moment, lost in each other.
Eventually, we concluded that if we didn't get out of the tub soon, we'd turn into raisins. Joy emerged first and summoned us a couple of towels, demonstrating once more the utility of having magic as she dried herself in a flurry of terrycloth swipes. As if I needed another reason to be jealous. Having dried herself off in record time, Joy applied her skills to me just as I finished clambering out of the tub. I was dried off before I knew up from down, and with that we set off for more familiar territory.
Under the influence of my near complete relaxation, the whole trip from upstairs to down passed in a blur, and I wasn’t afforded the chance to make any more observations as to the layout of the house. I’d look back on this golden opportunity in the near future and lament that I hadn’t seen the rest of the house. As much as I respected everypony’s right to privacy, I had this distinct, moderately perverted notion that simply wouldn’t leave my head… I wanted to see Joy’s bed. Not just see it, but lay down upon it. Creepy, yes… but the notion was a powerful one; one I wouldn’t even realize I’d harbored until a few days later. But, as I said before, the trip down the stairs and out the hall was a smear of colors shapes and textures to my dopamine-addled think-box.
The both of us sat on the couch in a comfortably familiar way, though our orientation was reversed. In lieu of Joy’s head on my lap as I brushed her mane, it was instead my head on her lap as she gently un-ruffled my feathers, one…feather… at… a… time. The entire process was a lengthy one, but I hadn’t a fuck to give about how long it took, for I was simply lost in the ecstasy of it all. Now, I know that the wings are a distinctly erogenous area on a Pegasus, having had a few awkward encounters with them myself. Somehow in spite of this, having an incredibly attractive mare smooth out each and every feather with an almost religious tenacity and thoroughness was pure ecstasy, though not arousing. I cannot really fathom or attest to how or why this is (seeing as how I have no conscious recollection of the event), but if I were to speculate on the cause, I would posit that this was due to the slow and steady nature of the encounter. Each feather was straightened and aligned very slowly and tenderly, which I suppose negated the erogenous effects. As I said though, this is mere speculation, as I was completely checked out for the entire duration.
Innumerable hours of bliss later, the hooves that had been gently preening my plumage finally came to rest. In the absence of the pleasure that I had basked in for so long, I almost felt something akin to pain, and I was about to be concerned before I realized that I wasn’t in pain, I was just in the absence of the constant, pleasant stimulation that I had been in before. Luna in the sky with diamonds, I was going to have to get her to do that again.
I rose to my knees on shaky limbs and planted a loving kiss on my favorite set of lips, lingering far longer than usual. Once the affectionate gesture broke, the both of us were grinning like idiots who just discovered something shiny. Wordlessly we switched positions, returning to our more familiar configuration. I took the brush from where it sat on the end table-turned-nightstand, affixed it to the end of my appendage and slowly began stroking the cerulean mane on my lap. I couldn’t help but wonder if this felt as good for her as the massage had been for me… I’d have to ask her at some point in the future. All we needed right now was the—
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of music floating softly from the gramophone on the corner of the room. I was really and truly contemplating the plausibility of Joy being a mind reader. To test this theory, I decided to think something at her as hard as I could. But what would it be? It had to be something that would draw a reaction from her, but not one that would get me in trouble if she really was some sort of super mind-reading unicorn. After a brief moment of concentration, I had it. In my mind, I fixed an image and thought it towards Joy as hard and as loudly as I could.
Rainbow Dash has a stupendous flank.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Perched atop a fluffy cloud somewhere high above Ponyville, Rainbow Dash rubbed her ear, annoyed that the itching had disturbed her nap. Flipping over to find a comfortable spot, she lapsed back into unconsciousness.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Joy’s tail twitched, but this was by no means a positive indicator… it did that a lot as I brushed her mane. I tried again, thinking harder this time, and concentrating deeper.
Rainbow Dash has a STUPENDOUS FLANK.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Just as she was beginning to drift back to sleep, a maddening itch caused Rainbow to sit bolt upright and scratch furiously. 'Seriously, what the hay is going on here? Stupid itchy ears, waking me up from my nap…’ Dash grumbled as she rolled over once more to go back to sleep.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Nothing but a sigh, which was again a less-than-positive indication. Hmm. Well, it looks like the mind reading thing is just a series of incredibly serendipitous coincidences. I took a deep breath and breathed a sigh of relief. I might not be a bad pony, but sometimes my mind wanders into dark alleys, and it would be best if nopony else knew about the things that cross my mind in the darkness. Personally, I blame the internet and scary movies.
Joy shifted slightly at my sigh, but she was too far gone into her happy place to be bothered with it. As I brushed, my mind had the opportunity to wander, mostly trying to reconcile the events of the last two weeks and absorb the implications. I took a moment to note that the sun had set and night had risen, indicating that several hours has passed since I had come home.
As the fog of exhaustion rolled into my mind, I found it more and more difficult to recall the events as they had occurred, and soon gave up entirely as an easier thought presented itself: I was going to marry Joy. The whole matter of proposing to her and her (hopeful) acceptance was a problem for another day. In the more immediate future, I had bigger concerns. Concerns like ‘how in the hell am I going to buy a ring without her noticing’, and things like that. You know, the little stuff. The sound of Joy’s gentle snoring elicited a yawn from me, and I ceased my brushing and shifted position to lie down beside my love. Or at least, I tried to. As soon as I stopped brushing and started to move, Joy pouted and snuggled further into my lap, making the cutest little sounds as she vocalized her discomfort. I was not going to be going anywhere anytime soon. A movie poster for the film “127 Hours” popped into my head, causing me to chuckle.
So it would seem that I would be sleeping while sitting upright, with my legs crossed, and Joy sleeping on my lap. Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’m going to lose my legs after this. This really sucked though, because we had finally started to get along, and I could see myself becoming quite attached to them in the future. As I drifted off to sleep, I had the very distinct pleasure of forming the mental image of myself with a pair of peg-legs, click-clacking my way down an avenue. With a smile on my lips and a glow in my heart, I drifted off to sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Oh-dark-thirty/ 25 March
A few hours later, in the dead of night, Joy rolled over to achieve a more comfortable position, freeing me from my imprisonment. At the time, I was unaware of this (seeing as how I was dead asleep and all), but I was soon awoken by the swarm of knife-wielding fire ants who were attacking my legs with extreme prejudice. The phrase “pins and needles” is an understatement, and I took it upon myself to come up with a suitable replacement. Some contenders that I was considering are as follows:
Sharks and shanks; piranhas and razorblades; knife wielding fire ants; and one of my personal favorites, stakes and shanks.
Even as I was contemplating proper descriptive (and ever-so-slightly fanciful) terms for my suffering, the sensation faded away to regular old pins and needles, and once more to completely restored feeling. Well, it looks like I won’t be losing the limbs after all. That’s good to know.
Loss of limb averted, I quickly settled back to sleep and made my way back to the same dream I had just awoken from without a hitch.
I was awoken for the second time that day by my alarm, feeling incredibly well rested. After my exertion the day before and the massage afterward, I had slept like the dead. As was customary, Joy was already up and making breakfast by the time I woke up, though this time it wasn’t nearly as cacophonous as it had been in days prior. Once I had concluded my daily ritual of hygiene, I headed into the kitchen to partake in the consumption of delicious sustenance.
I came up behind Joy as she was making breakfast, startling her with a nip to the flank. She jumped a bit in surprise and let out an adorable little squeak before turning and fixing me with a sultry gaze.
“Don’t start something you can’t finish, Dave.”
“Yes, dear.”
“You know, I kinda like this obedient side of you. It’s pretty cute.”
And I blushed. She is victorious once more. I was silent as I tried to come up with a rebuttal, but it took too long and it would have been even more awkward if I interjected now, so far after the fact. We had a light breakfast of oats, grain, and fruit to start the day, a day I didn’t really know how to spend. As far as I knew, I had nothing to do for today other than spend time with Joy. Thankfully, Joy’s schedule was a little better populated than mine. Since Joy was starting school on Monday, (something I had entirely forgotten about) she needed to pick up some books and miscellaneous school supplies to prepare for the new semester. On the agenda for the day was a stop at Quills & Sofas, followed by the Library. After the Library, we would be heading home to deposit the books and would determine the best way to spend the remainder of the day. With the immediate future planned out and scheduled, we set off for Q&S to pick up a set of quills, parchment, and ink. As we walked through the streets, we engaged in small talk and simply absorbed the wonderful morning. The slight nip in the air was fading, and towards the middle of the day it was noticeably warmer, signaling the end of spring and the rise of summer.
The town was its usual bustling self, or at least as close to nustling as Ponyville ever came to it. At any rate, ponies were out and about, soaking up the same gentle rays of sun as Joy and I were. A gentle breeze tousled the ends of my mane and tail,, sending a current dancing across my wings as it passed. As we strolled in companionable silence, it afforded me time to think, which was good because it took me a bit longer than most folks.
In the back of my mind, I was kind of grateful that Joy was going to be in class, and therefore absent for longer periods of time. As much as I knew I’d miss her presence and relish her company even more upon her return, it also saved me the trouble of having to explain why a born and raised pegasus would have to undertake flying lessons in secrecy, possibly in a remote location like in the meadows by Sweet Apple Acres. Since I was a “born and raised” pegasus, I should already know how to fly and all that jazz… just one problem: I had never been a pegasus before, and was still getting used to the concept of myself with wings. Therefore, my training needed to be in secret, lest my lies about my past be brought forth and exposed.
I knew that sooner or later I’d have to tell Joy, and that the longer I waited the worse it would be… but I couldn’t do it, not yet. As incredibly selfish and deceitful as it was, I still needed to fully recover before I told her. After all, what if she kicked me out before I was healed, and I couldn’t fend for myself? Granted, I was in a better position to survive than most due to my training, but I still would rather not put this to the test.
In the midst of my internal ramblings, I had missed Joy’s attempt to strike up a conversation, causing Joy to regard me with concern as she inquired about my demeanor.
“Dave? Are you feeling alright?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Got lost in thought…unfamiliar territory and all.”
Joy chuckled at this, but her gaze remained skeptical, though she withheld any questions she might have had. After this incident, I focused more intently on remaining a part of the conversation, a feat that was made significantly easier by the fact that it was easy to listen to Joy speak, and I felt like I could do it for hours on end without ever growing tired of it. Well, so long as I didn’t get distracted, at least. A flurry of movement and some startled yelps caught my attention, and as my head swiveled in the direction of the noise, I barely caught sight of an orange filly with a magenta mane barreling down the avenue on a scooter. In a flurry of dust and surprised vocalizations, the wheeled menace was gone and life was back to normal. As I was watching this unfold, I had turned my head but remained walking forward… at least until I collided with the side of a building.
Hearing the thump, Joy stopped whatever she had been saying in mid sentence, turning to look at me with a mixture of amusement and resignation. I rubbed the knot on my head and smiled sheepishly at her. I hobbled back to my hooves and caught up to Joy, still massaging the knot forming on my head. Just around the corner was Quills and Sofas, and I got an disquietingly familiar queasy feeling as I looked at the fascia of the building, the damage from Derpy’s collision having been all but erased. As we passed in front of the display window that had taken the brunt of the impact, I saw an all too familiar sight that caused me to shiver a bit, despite the warmth. Small brown spatters adorned the baseboards of the display window baseboards, overlooked in the reconstruction efforts. Yep, that was blood alright.
Before I had a chance to get any more unsteady on my hooves, we were past the window and headed into the store. We were greeted by an exuberant Dave, whose formal name was apparently Davenport (as indicated by his nametag). Upon seeing Joy, his face lit up with a huge smile, and upon seeing me, the smile faltered. He tried to hide it with an ill-timed cough, but that just made it all the more noticeable. Joy stood off to the side, eyes darting between the two Daves as if watching an invisible tennis match. I was going to open my mouth and ask him to explain his reaction when he caught me off guard with a single word.
“Sorry.”
I had to stop and think for a second. Was this a trap? Was he apologizing in advance for causing me a great deal of bodily harm? Unconsciously, I tensed up, anticipating bad things happening. Seeing this, Other Dave shook his head and waved his hooves in the universal “you’ve got it all wrong” or “no, stop” gesture. He spoke again, once more preempting my question.
“Hold on now, I’m just apologizing for how I acted that night. I know you’re sore at me for hitting you, but I want you to know that I didn’t mean anything by it. I thought you were attacking her, and I- “
I interjected, cutting off his explanation. “Alright Dave, calm down. I’m not even sore about the knock to the head, and I see why you did it. As a matter of fact, I’m thankful that you were there to help. Without the quill you gave me, things might have still gone badly for Derpy. So, I guess what I’m trying to say is… thank you.”
Davenport just sat there for a moment, mouth opening and closing soundlessly. He must have been studying under Joy, because he was able to pull off an imitation of a goldfish as well as anypony I’d ever met. After a moment, he found his voice again.
“You’re… you’re welcome? But if you aren’t mad, then why did you look like you were about to attack me?”
I wing-shrugged, causing a twinge of pain that I did my best to overlook. “Oh, that. I wasn’t about to attack, I was anticipating an attack. I’m just a little jumpy like that. I came in and then you started acting funny, then you just say ‘sorry’ … I found it pretty strange and it put me on edge.”
Now it was his turn to shrug, which he somehow did without wings. “Ah, I see. Well, now that we all know that nopony is going to attack anypony else, what can Davenport do for you?”
At this, Joy stepped forward from where she had been standing to address the shop owner. “Actually, I’m here to get some supplies for class. Here’s my list.”
As the scrap of parchment floated over and was caught by Davenport, his eyes widened a bit as a smile grew on his face. I know that look… that’s the “this is going to be damned expensive” look. I’ve seen it before on mechanics and car salesmen.
A half hour later, the deed was done, and I was stuck carrying a bag that was simply full to the brim with scrolls upon scrolls of parchment, ink, and more quills than you can shake a stick at. Joy settled the tab with a pile of bits that I thought was unreasonably large for such a purchase, and as we walked out, I questioned Joy about this.
“Hey, Joy? Didn’t that seem a bit expensive for parchment and quills and stuff?”
Now it was Joy who joined the shrug-fest. “Yeah, it was. But Davenport had to raise his prices a little bit to cover the costs of the repairs.”
I nodded absently. “Oh, alright. That makes sense, now that I think about it. So, we’re off to visit Twilight?”
“No, we’re off to get books from the library. This will most likely result in a meeting with Twilight, but it isn’t the main reason we are going.”
Dammit, she got me again. Seeking revenge, I pulled forward so that I was walking alongside her instead of slightly to the rear. Once I was in position, I extended my right wing and ever so lightly traced the tip of a feather down her spine. She stopped on the spot, overcome by involuntary shivers from her head to her tail. She shot me a look that promised retribution, and I couldn’t help but wonder what fresh hell was in store for me. My mouth burned at the recollection of the Dave-ferno. Meh, I’d cross that bridge when I came to it.
Once more we walked towards our next destination side by side, our flanks occasionally bumping and drawing a grin from the both of us. The trip passed in a comfortable silence as we each simply relished the company of the other. Along the way, I caught sight of the Crusaders as they gallivanted en masse from (or towards) their latest adventure. I was about to remark to Joy, but they disappeared around the corner before I had a chance to say anything. In hindsight, I figured that she was likely quite familiar with their antics, being not only a resident of the town, but moreover a nurse with a pediatric specialty. I let the experience pass by without a comment, silently contemplating what they might have been up to for a moment before discarding the notion as unknowable. I simply relished in the presence of this mare beside me, taking in the smells and sounds of the square as we passed through the center of the town. With my flank so close to Joy’s, I didn’t have to watch where I was going, I just had to stick by her side. Having my mind freed up from the strenuous and complicated task of watching where I was going, it was free to wander of its own accord.
Perhaps a manifestation of my current physiology, my gaze and my thoughts were drawn inexorably upwards, becoming lost in the wild blue yonder that arched above us, the ceiling of the world. I wondered what it would be like, to feel the wind whipping through my mane and filling my wings as I swooped and whirled through the amorphous clouds above. Somehow, I recalled the sensation of flight; the sting of the cold at the high altitudes, buffeted by the unseen air currents in the sky; the cold dampness of a storm cloud as I flew through it, as the sky itself seemed to tremble under the might of the storm. I recalled everything with such vividness that I could swear I had lived it, yet knew that I had not.
A hoof caressed my cheek, bringing me firmly back down to earth and igniting a blush on my cheeks.
“About time you got your head out of the clouds, Dave. We’re here.”
And so we were. We were nearly standing on the stoop to the library when I had been roused from my reverie. As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by a mostly apathetic little purple dragon, carrying a mop and bucket with a dour look on his face. And by “greeted”, I mean that he grunted in an affirming manner as we entered. Knowing that what comes next wouldn’t involve me in the slightest, I excused myself to do some research on my own. As I made my way to the maze of shelves, I heard Joy and Twilight striking up a conversation elsewhere in the library. After a few moments of searching, I found what I was looking for: a book on intermediate flight techniques and a book on griffin history.
Though I wanted to read up on flight very badly, I held off on that until after I skimmed the griffin history first. I scanned the book and picked out pertinent bits of information that might come in handy, so long as I didn’t come across a griffin. If that happened, I was boned. Having absorbed enough basic info to sate most foreseeable questions, I dove into the flight book and devoured every word I could, ingested every fact. In this way, I was a bit like Twilight… when something caught my interest, I would research and learn as much as I possibly could about it, hungrily searching out every fact I could find on the subject. In a matter of half an hour, I had made it through the entire book. My head was spinning slightly, partly from the influx of information and techno-jargon, but also from the very, very intense desire to try every single thing I learned from the tome.
I suppose in that way, I was like Dash… always wanting to try something new, gain new experience. I’ve always been a quick learner, and I couldn’t wait to put this into practice. After work tomorrow, I would go for a little jog to get away from the crowd and start practicing the warm up drills prescribed in the book. While they are rudimentary flight techniques to most, I figured it would be a good place to start and build confidence before moving on to anything crazy. I was about to search for another book on flight when I heard myself being summoned. I set off for the checkout counter, as I figured that’s where they would be. As I trotted, I became aware once more of the bag of supplies I held around my neck as it shifted with my increased pace. Adjusting the burden, I slowed my pace a bit so that I didn’t dislodge it again.
Rounding the corner, I began to have flashbacks to my struggle against gravity from the day before. I was in shock at how many books there were stacked upon the counter. How was it even supporting the weight? I must have been standing with my jaw open or something, because the both of them started to laugh at me. Turning from one to the other, I tried to figure out what exactly was so funny about the prospect of me carrying three and a quarter metric tons of books back to the house.
The two of them were whispering in conspiratorial tones, but not exactly quietly enough for me not to hear what was being said.
“Look at him… he thinks all these books are mine.”
Twilight looked from Joy to the tower of books and back again. “Huh? You mean my re-shelving stack? Are you going to tell him?”
With a devious smirk, Joy replied “What, and ruin the fun?”
At this, the both of them giggled. I maintained the dumbfounded look on my face as I approached, looking for an edge, something that would allow me to flip the situation back on them. As I eyed the spines of the books in front of me, I found exactly what I needed. Stopping in place as if frozen, I turned my head and examined a title very closely before I read it out loud.
“How to please your mare: A guide. Joy, is there something you aren’t telling me?”
Now it was her turn to have her jaw hit the floor, and she turned white as it did so. Her eyes were as wide as saucers, and she started doing her tomato impression again. Though, with her eyes bugged out like they were, it looked like someone had glued googly eyes to a tomato. I did my best to hold a straight as I looked through the rest of the titles.
I lost it somewhere around “An Idiot’s Guide to the Kama Sutra”.
Twilight was chuckling heartily, Joy was beet red and stammering an excuse, and I just lost it and laughed so hard I couldn’t breathe. After a moment of pouting, even Joy joined in the jubilations, admitting defeat. Spike came by to shush us, but seeing that Twilight was laughing just as hard as the rest of us, he just tore off his apron and stalked away, muttering to himself. After a moment longer, the guffaws died down and faded altogether. Wrapping up the transaction, Joy floated a sizeable set of bags over to me, each one probably containing about ten text books or so. Shouldering the burden with a bit less difficulty than I expected, I proceeded in the direction of the door as Joy said her farewells. Our next stop was our humble abode to deposit this burden and plan out how to spend the rest of the day. Silently I supplicated the powers that be, pleading that whatever came after lunch involved less manual labor.
An hour and a half later, we had made it home, unpacked the bags of books, and enjoyed a lunch salad with strawberries, cranberries, walnuts, and sweet balsamic vinaigrette dressing. I swear, Joy’s mark should have been a chef’s hat. Over lunch, we had discussed plans for the afternoon, and to my relief I discovered that we were done gathering supplies for the time being. After a bit of discussion, it was decided that we would relax the rest of the day away, a decision that I backed fully. As soon as Joy mentioned that there was a lake nearby, I would hear nothing else. I have always been an avid swimmer, a trait that I guess was due to being raised within spitting distance of one of the world’s most famous beaches.
After a bit of preparation (and a good deal of impatient prancing on my part) we were ready to go. I practically skipped the whole way there, and Joy couldn’t help but smile at my excitement. I fought the urge to bolt for the shore as soon as the water came into view. Instead, I took to helping Joy set up the umbrellas and the towels before I struck out for the water’s edge at nothing less than a dead sprint. With a leap, I flared my wings a bit and was rewarded with the sensation of my hooves lifting from the sand as I used my speed to glide over the water and gain a little height, before tucking in my wings and diving towards the water.
From the shore, I could hear Joy yelling something at me, but in the rush of the moment, the thrill of flight, all I heard was cheering. As soon as I touched the water, I realized I’d made a terrible mistake. First off, it was still March. Still cold at night, and with shorter days to heat the water. An instant before splashdown, I caught sight of a stream spilling into the lake, winding away up into the mountains. I splashed down into a world of pain, diving into a bowl of needles and salt as my coat shrank six sizes, suffocating me. I fought the urge to breathe as I struggled back for the surface. This was without a doubt the coldest water I’d ever been in. Even as I broke the surface, the adrenaline coursing through my veins took hold, and it wouldn’t allow me to look weak, to look phased by a little glacial runoff. I shook my mane from my eyes and whooped triumphantly, wondering if Joy could see me shivering from the shore.
I took a deep breath and steeled myself, diving back under the surface and using my wings, “flying” under water. This was one of the exercises in the book, an example of resistance training. Pumping my wings as swiftly as I could under the water, I closed the dozen meters to shore in record speed. As a matter of fact, I was moving so fast that I didn’t even realize that I was out of room until I slid out of the water and up the beach, coming to rest at Joy’s hooves. Sputtering and coughing, spitting out sand, I tried my best to smile up at her. As I did so, she burst out laughing, pointing at me and trying in vain to speak. I was about to ask the rhetorical question of “is there something in my teeth” when I realized that there was indeed something in my teeth. Picking at my face with a sandy hoof was a terrible idea, but it was successful in dislodging the offending item, which I noted was seaweed. Spitting out more sand, I stood and approached Joy, still covered as I was in sand, mud, and Celestia-knows what else. I approached her with my best kissy-face, using what I jokingly refer to as my “bedroom voice”.
“Hey there, pretty lady. How’s about a kiss?”
I puckered up and lunged at her, causing her to shriek and run away as I gave chase, the both of us giggling like fillies. It is times like this, these moments of sheer happiness, which get us through the black times in our lives.
I eventually caught Joy, but not before she scooped a sphere of ice water from the lake and unceremoniously doused me with it, washing away the mud and grime on my coat. I was just about to gloat about my sandy lips when I was hit by a second, smaller ball of liquid right in my big, open mouth. Coughing and sputtering, I was aware that my fact that my mouth was pretty effectively rinsed out. I was simultaneously glad to be rid of whatever funny taste I’d had in my mouth before then, and also disappointed that Joy wouldn’t suffer the wrath of my sloppy makeouts. Damn.
I managed to throw Joy off by feinting left and going right, using my wings for an extra burst of speed to grab a hold of her and roll her to the ground, using my wings to slow myself at the last second so I didn’t injure her in the process. I pinned her to the ground, holding her down with a combination of my body weight and strategically placed wings. I sat there for a moment to bask in the glow of triumph, disregarding the fact that I was proud to have managed to catch a mare, and one who wasn’t very good at running at that.
Nope, not acknowledging that. So there I was, still glistening from my dip in the lake, the excess water from my coat dripping onto Joy as she lay beneath me. We were both breathing a little heavily from the chase, and Joy was blushing a little from the exertion. I leaned down to kiss her, finding my lips met eagerly by hers as we slipped away into our own little world. At least, until we were interrupted by a shocked gasp and some very upset words.
“Are the two of you… in public… oh, you should be ashamed of yourselves! What if a foal found you two? How would you explain that? Hmm?”
My head snapped up as soon as I heard the gasp, and my brain was working overtime as I tried to figure out what exactly I was being yelled at for. The pieces cascaded into place.
I was lying on top of Joy. We were both out of breath. We were both dripping wet. Immediately prior to the kiss, there had been a certain amount of grunting going on. Yeah, this looked pretty bad. I recognized the mare who was scolding us as Cheerilee, and she recognized the both of us as well. I spoke up first, trying to come to our defense.
“Wait, it’s not like that. We were just running around and chasing each other, but I caught Joy and tackled her—“
“And just happened to land on top of her? Sure, a likely story. I’m going to turn around and pretend that I never saw any of this, and let us never speak of this again. Just be glad it was me that found you mid-tryst, and not one of those ponies who engage in gossip. Take it to the bedroom, and keep it a private matter between two ponies.”
Had I not been so caught off guard, I might have laughed at the sheer comicality of it all. As it was, I stared in shock at Cheerilee as she walked away, shaking her head. Below me, Joy cleared her throat nervously. I gave her another quick kiss before climbing off of her, allowing her to get to her hooves and look around awkwardly.
Joy rubbed the back of her neck, doing her tomato impression again. “Well… that was… awkward.”
“What, the part where I beat you, or the part where Cheerilee thought we were boning?”
Joy began sputtering at this, apparently amazed by my ability to toss that phrase out there so casually. She recovered quickly though, and with a moment’s hesitation she had flipped it around on me.
“Neither, the part where she said we should take it to the bedroom. I quite like the idea, myself. Shall we?”
I had to stop for a minute and think on that one. Is it still too soon? A pony in a white robe punched me in the back of the head. Of course it’s too soon. It’s only been two weeks! On the other hoof, a red pony with a pitchfork was gently trying to persuade me that she was the one pushing for it… no, no. that doesn’t make it right. In the midst of my internal debate, I heard Joy faintly as she mumbled to herself.
“I think I broke him… “
I chuckled inwardly as the debate raged on.
There is no way that this can be right, be the right thing to do. Do I want to? Oh, hell yes I do. Does she? Yeah, that’s a roger. Can we? Nope. Why? Because I told her I’d show her what love could be, what love should be. This? This wasn’t it. No, I was going to wait until marriage for that. Or at least till I propose. Yeah, at least then. Not until after I have that ring on her horn will we be engaging in any sort of hanky-panky. My mind made up, I snapped back to the present.
“Joy. While your eagerness is enticing, and you are the most beautiful mare I’ve ever met, I’ll have to take a rain check on that. It’s still too soon, love. I said I’d do this right, and I mean it. We’ll have to wait until the time is right.”
She looked at me with an odd expression for a second. “Wow, I wasn’t expecting all that. Maybe a comeback or some stuttering, but nothing that made sense. And just how will we know when the time is right?”
I nodded knowingly, “Oh, we’ll know, I assure you. It’ll be hard to miss the signs.”
“Well, if even you say it’s hard to miss, there’s no way it’ll slip me by.”
I met this with a sarcastic smile and shook my head. As we headed back to the towel we had laid out, I managed to convince Joy to come in the water. Though she had barely dipped a hoof in before she declared that there was no way in Tartarus that she’d go in there, I ended up persuading her to go a bit farther out. And by persuaded, I mean that I might have stuck my head under her chest and lifted her onto my back before dashing like mad for deeper water. She managed to wiggle free, but not before she was in water up to her shoulders. Joy scampered out of the water as quickly as she could, standing shivering on the bank and shooting me an evil glare. After frolicking in the water for a moment to rub in the fact that I was tougher than she was, and unaffected by the temperature, I headed to shore. By the time I climbed out of the water, I could no longer feel my extremities. Such is the price of pride. Joy spread out on the towel that had been laid out for her and simply bathed in the warmth of the sun.
Seeing how supremely comfortable she looked, I decided it’d be nice to join her, and so I did. We lay side by side like that for a good while, rolling over from time to time to bake nice and evenly on both sides. By the time we decided to wrap it up, the sun was descending in the sky and we were both nice and toasty. If not for this coat of fur, I’d have been burnt to a crisp by the time we packed up and left. Apparently every other pony in town had enough common sense to know that the lake was cold this time of year, since we hadn’t seen any other ponies in the entire time we had been out there. Well, none but Cheerilee. What was that mare doing out here, anyways? Bah, more mysteries for future Dave. Packing up the towels and the umbrella, Joy and I set off for home to wash the sand from our coats before dinner. By the time we’d gotten home, I was half convinced that I was going to be invited upstairs for another “steamy bathroom session”, but this was not the case. We entered and went our separate ways to conduct our hygiene rituals.
A short while later we met back up in the living room. There was no real purpose to this other than to just be near each other, and I sat on the couch with her head in my lap, gently brushing her mane to the tune of Steedivarious. This… this was heavenly. We slowly let the world fade away as we retreated to that special place of ours, that place without cares and the where the only sound was the soft rasp of brush against mane.
Our reverie was ended by the sound of the door opening and hoofsteps approaching. I never slowed or paused my stroking, and the hoofsteps stopped at the doorway to the main hall. Silence reigned for several seconds (save for the aforementioned rasp of the brush) before a single “awww” came from the doorway. Turning my head, I saw Nurse Redheart standing there with glistening eyes and a tender smile as she regarded the both of us with a mix of adoration and… jealousy? This didn’t make sense, but there was no mistaking it… her pale blue eyes were tinged green by envy. Redheart senior reached a hoof up and wiped her eye, followed by the other eye, mumbling to herself.
“You’ll have to excuse me, I seem to have something in my eye… and my other eye… and my heart… “
I smiled to myself at that, never breaking stride with my strokes. I heard hooves heading upstairs, followed by a door closing, and then silence. A few moments later, I became aware of the fact that my arm was getting rather sore from the repetitive motion, and I ceased my brushing to watch Joy’s reaction. It took a few seconds for her to notice, but eventually she did. The first indicator was her nose beginning to twitch, as if trying to determine the source of a scent. This was followed shortly thereafter by an adorable grimace as her left eye popped halfway open. She panned her half lidded and bleary gaze across the room, searching for Luna-knows-what.
Blinking in confusion as she finally opened both eyes, she turned her head towards me and stared for a moment before the image finally sunk in. “Why’d you stop?”
“I can’t feel my arm anymore.”
She grumpily murmured “… and? Is that all?”
“Also, I’m hungry. Didn’t you say something about dinner a while ago?” As if on cue, my stomach rumbled right next to Joy’s ear.
She rolled her eyes at this. “Is food all you think about? Kidding, kidding. I’m hungry too. How do you feel about Daisy’s?”
I contemplated for a moment before responding, tapping a hoof to my chin for extra think-power. “They’re a fine salad topping, but hardly a meal.”
“I meant the diner, ya goof. Want to go out for dinner?”
I was then grasped by an idea. “Sounds good to me. We should ask your mom if she wants to go with us.”
Joy made a face like she just sucked on a lemon as she contemplated the notion.
“Eh… I’m not so sure that would be a good idea… “
I cocked my head. This didn't make sense to me. “Oh? Why not? She’s already had ‘the talk’ with me. I don’t see what’s left to be worried about. Plus, I’m good at conversation for the most part.”
Joy sat up, rubbing the back of her neck and refusing to look me in the eye. “No, it’s not that… it’s just that there are some things that happened in the past that… well, it would make the whole thing awkward.”
Feeling that I'd overstepped a boundary of some sort, I quickly backpedaled into safer conversational territory. “Oh… okay then. I didn’t mean to stick my nose where it doesn’t belong. I just thought it would be nice to have her come out with us, so I could get to know her a bit better. We could always do that another time, though.”
Joy sighed, apparently resigned.
“No, no… you’re right… for once. It would be good for you to spend some time with her and get to know her, and vice versa as well. Now I feel bad for not wanting to invite her, it seems rude of me.”
I held up a hoof. “Hold on, that’s not what I wanted at all. I wasn’t trying to guilt-trip you into this, love. I just thought it would be nice.”
She waved her hoof dismissively. “No, don’t worry about that. You were right after all. You see that? I even said it twice now, and it still feels strange.”
“What, admitting I was right?”
Joy mock-glared at me for a moment before sighing heavily and fixing me with a level gaze.
“Yes, that. You might as well revel in it, it’s not something that happens often, is it? But anyways, I’ll go ask if she wants to come with us for some ‘family bonding time’ and all that. If this goes south though, I blame you.”
“But of course, love. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Good, as long as it’s understood. I’ll go ask her now.”
Joy turned and set off towards the stairs, leaving me in silence.
Dear, Sweet Celestia… what am I getting myself into?
My contemplation was cut short by a pair of hoofsteps heading down the stairs. Well… here goes nothing…